First Blog: "Alice"

I was torn, what should my first blog be?: something old or something new. Here's a little back story: I consulted my blog guru, we will call her that, and with her I decided on "Alice". We were sitting at dinner and she asked my opinion on "Alice", and then she said "you know so many movies you should blog." Okay my initial opinion on "Alice" is it's a very entertaining move, I enjoyed it... I just want to make that clear. Will I go see it in theaters again, probably not, will I get the dvd- right now I'm gonna say 50/50 chance, will I ever see it again, yes. I would say its a solid 8 out of 10.
The reason I keep referring it to as "Alice" and not "Alice in Wonderland" is because it's not "Alice in Wonderland" it is much more "Through the Looking Glass." If you didn't know that Alice was returning to Wonderland before you saw it, one might get confused on the story. I understand that if he didn't name it "Alice in Wonderland" people might not know what it was, but still. What Tim Burton did was fantastic. He really is a gifted director, he took a story and didn't make it scary and dark...yes he doesn't have to always,give him some credit..., but he is great at staying true to the source material. He did the same thing with "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" , goodbye golden geese, hello attacking squirrels. In "Alice" he stayed true to what the main story is, but if you have only seen the Disney animated feature "Alice's In Wonderland" than you have no Idea who the white queen is and why the Jaberwalkie.
One of my favorite things about the film was the costuming. Alice's costumes were brilliant, the way the cloths changed when she went from big to small were amazing. Loved how they looked high fashioned, plus bonus- each costume change included a different bandage for her arm that just looked like part of the dress. Now I could go off on each performance: Johnny Depps brilliance, or How Helena Botam Carter freaks me out (in general not necessarily in this roll). Instead I will focus on one persons roll, and the one in "Alice" that impressed me the most was actually Ann Hathaways portrayal of the White Queen. It is the performance I remember the most...her breathy airy way was exactly what was needed. If you just watch her hands alone you could tell she is delicate. Playing a Queen who took an "oath to never harm anything" , but who has to help her warrior was fantastic. She definitely was the queen of subtle movements.
The main thing that disappointed me was the portrayal of Wonderland. Wonderland was supposed to be this crazy, whacked out world and it was maybe a 7 out of 10 when it could of been turned up to 11. Now in the story Wonderland is kind of a devastated place, with the Red Queens rule, but come on! Where is the crazy backgrounds? The randomness associated with Wonderland and its talking flowers, and crazy creatures were missing.
Now when I saw it, I saw it in 3D, and the only impressive 3D part for me was falling down the rabbit whole. I wish they would stop putting things in 3D...some thing don't need it. As in "Alice" the rest of the movie didn't really need to be 3D. The attention to detail I did love, was when you got to the palace of the Red Queen. when "Alice" crosses the moat she steps on heads..as in "off with his head". That little detail was fantastic, and in this case the only creepy thing in the movie.
So I say it is definitely worth the price of admission to check out Alice and I give it an 8 out of 10!